Unions get thousands protesting in Spanish cities

There were demonstrations in 60 cities on Sunday against the Government's labour reforms.

The trade unions brought thousands of people on to the streets of Spain against Mariano Rajoy’s labour reform for the second time in a month on Sunday. They warned that their General Strike set for March 29 would be only the first in a series of new protests, unless the Government makes a substantial change to their reform.

Thousands took to the streets in Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Málaga and 60 cities in total. Police numbers say 30,000 in Madrid, (unions claimed 50,000), 15,000 in Málaga and Sevilla and 17,000 in Barcelona where the unions claimed 450,000. Most common chant was ‘General Strike!’. The union leaders continue to demand talks with the Government.

Socialist leader, Alfredo Pérez-Rubalcaba, claimed that the Partido Popular now wanted to blame the workers for the crisis. He said the workers were fighting for a dignified wage and conditions for a quality of life, and claimed the reform would result in more unemployment, a recession in the short term, and the creation of precarious jobs in the medium term.

The PP General Secretary, María Dolores de Cospedal, criticised Rubalcaba for giving the Prime Minister 20 days to call off the general strike. She said he would be better off thinking ‘of what to say the unemployed workers’.